The De Noir Seduction
by The-Mighty-Third-Draft
Summary: Maria has a new, mysterious suitor whom she can only see at night. Coeur De Noir is having troubles of the heart, and Benjamin struggles with his pride. Old grudjes and new offences conspire to lead the Merryweathers ever closer to disaster.
1. The Angel of the Night

**Rating**: Chapters 1-5 are more or less T. Nothing too adult. Epilogue is categorically M/18/NC-17

**Synopsis:** Much has changed at Moonacre. Maria, now grown has a new, mysterious suitor whom she can only see at night. Coeur De Noir is having troubles of the heart, and Benjamin finds it hard to let go of his pride. Jealousy, greed and hate abound, and at every turn try to destroy the love that is blooming in the dark, drawing the Merryweather family ever closer to disaster.

**Author's Notes**: Just a bit of fun, really. A drama full of pride and passion, with a bit of good old fashioned rumpy-pumpy mixed in for good measure. Coeur De Noir/Maria. Please read and review! Feedback is always very much appreciated. I don't do many stories of this length and genre, and could do with some feedback to see how I handle it!

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. I'm just playing with them for my own twisted amusement :)

* * *

**The De Noir Seduction**

The castle lay in silence, a monolith in the Stygian dark, it's peace and tranquillity disturbed only by the wind. It whistled across the west tower where Coeur De Noir lay awake, a book on his lap. He was not reading it. Indeed he had marked the page long ago and let it fall. He stared into space.

Never had he been so distracted. Never so discontent. Over the months since the five thousandth moon his thoughts had grown wild and twisting, a briar patch of dislike and hidden pride. The purple dragon at the centre stirred, disturbed, considering it's final rise to the surface, and it's best attempts at devastation.

Merryweather, he thought. So content in your white-washed house. Your picket fence. Your demon dog. Loveday will have covered your home in flowers. Infested it with wildlife.

His eyes drifted over to the open window where the breeze stirred the drapes. His had not been a good choice. One moment of forgiveness, that's all it took. One brief interlude of love. He'd called memories of his children, on the day they were born. Lying pink and soft in their mother's arms – so full of promise – and that had saved his skin. That alone.

Did the moon think his convictions were so shallow? So easily changed around? No. Coeur De Noir was a patient man. A clever man. A man not so easily dissuaded.

* * *

Maria smiled into the shimmering glass, brushing her hair. It had grown so long this last year, like so much of the rest of her. Her taste in fashion, she thought with a smile, eyeing the dark but beautiful robes hanging on the wardrobe door. She was becoming as gothic as Loveday.

Her sensibilities had changed too. Certainly she no longer felt so innocent about the motivations of men and women, but neither did she feel so lost in her life. She had done something great. She glanced over at the pile of pages and the quill on her desk. Soon, she would have finished her book. Then she'd write another, she thought. And another. Fiction that would help people who had been in her position - alone and fearful. Fiction to distract them from the darkness of bereavement.

She had so many ideas. Ideas inspired in part by her Moonacre adventure. And by the heartache that had ensued after it. It was still hard to think of Robin for any length of time and not feel quite despondent even tearful. Still, looking back now with her heart mostly healed and her brain back in gear, she mused at how much the experience had taught her. She was almost perversely grateful for it.

Maria felt her smile fade minutely. In a way she envied Robin. Gone to University in London to seek his fortune, to become a doctor. Maria wished sometimes that such a path were open to her. A grand and celebrated career. Then she thought of her Angel. Her guiding light, her mysterious suitor, and smiled.

The night was unusually dark at ground level, but studded by the distant, dotted glow of stars. The moon was a sliver, high in the heavens. Maria twirled on the grass, alone in the night. Her bare feet sank deep into the turf as she danced, humming her own tune. A way off, Merryweather Manor glowed softly. The servants had lit the ring of night lights, provided for young girls who liked to be outside in the night, in her uncle's best imitation of understanding. She never stayed within their hallowed sphere's for long, but left their comforting light for the solitude and the dangers of the darkness.

Maria collapsed with dizziness on the thick, green lawn and cast her hair back of her face with a flick. She could feel the forest tonight. The soft out breath of a hundred thousand trees. The movement of the animals. The wind spoke volumes to her, a soft breath in her hair. Not so soft, she suspected, as her sweetheart.

Silently, she withdrew a silk scarf from between her bosoms and smoothed it out. She raised it to her face – and tied it around her eyes. She smiled into the dark, knowing that though she couldn't hear him, he would be nearby.

'I'm ready,' she whispered, leaning back on the grass. 'Come to me, my Angel of the Night.'

She loved that name for him. It suited his dark presence. For long minutes she sat that way, the breeze caressing the soft flesh of her neck and chest. Inside of a year she had bloomed from gawky teenager to full-blown woman. She was still acclimatising to her unexpected curves, her new found feelings of actual womanhood. It was hard, now that she had enough to fill a corset, not to enjoy the effects a low-cut neckline had on men.

Perhaps that was wrong of her. Uncle Benjamin certainly thought so. Loveday, she suspected, thought it amusing. She had certainly pulled such dubious tricks in her own youth, so was not in a position to criticise.

You could tell the character of a man, Maria thought, by his reaction to your neckline. The under-confident teenagers with whom she was forced to dance each ball were a hardship to say the least. On the odd occasion she met someone worth the energy – her uncle would swiftly pull her away and guide her onto more suitable quarry.

Maria smiled to the dark. Beyond the fences of Moonacre, the trees gushed a soft symphony, a stretched and varied sibilant made of leaves and bark, and of the thousand voices of the spirits.

'Come to me-' she said, as loudly as she dared. There was always the danger that her Uncle would hear.

'My lady,' said a soft voice, not far behind her. She heard the rustle of cloth. Her heart sped up.

'You _are_ here,' Maria grinned. 'I've missed your company these last nights.'

'My apologies,' said the Angel of the Night in his soft and sensuous voice. 'I was detained with business.'

'Angels have business?' she smiled playfully.

'Why yes. Of course. Is your blindfold secure?'

'Secure as my heart,' Maria answered, wishing that she could use her eyes as well as her lips to tempt and trammel her intended. She had long become used to his need for the blindfold, and though he wouldn't tell her why - she trusted him, and never tried to peek.

There was the sound of moving fabric, then Maria felt warmth close to her back. Her breath hitched as soft, warm fingers brushed hair off her neck.

'Good,' he purred, placing a soft, warm kiss on her neck. Maria breathed a sigh of happiness, her heart swelling with joy.

'Your skin is like silk, my lady,' he purred. 'Your hair...such beautiful curls. This old angel could die of happiness for the chance to take you in his arms.'

Maria smiled widely.

'Do you prefer curls?' she asked.

'Always, my lady,' he said.

Maria's skin sensitized as the Angel brushed his fingertips down her wrist, and gently plucked her hand from the grass. Maria gasped as he kissed her wrist, then her palm. She could feel the tickle of his beard.

'Your lips-' she whispered. 'They're so soft-'

'They are happy to meet your flesh,' he purred. Then growled softly, 'so very happy.'

'Angel?' Maria whispered, leaning her body gently into his. He was as hot as summer, and smelled like the damp earth of the forest, like the skin of a horse. Like cracked and well-worn leather. The Angel leaned in too, pressing his body to hers. His lips met her ear, where he kissed gently.

'Yes, my lady?'

'May this be the night? The night I see you?'

'You must not see me,' he breathed, 'Such fair eyes as yours should never look upon the likes of me.'

'But-' she protested.

'Is this not enough?' his voice dropped as he slid a hand around her waist. Maria held her breath, enraptured. She had neglected to wear a corset. There was only a thin layer of fabric between her skin and the Angel's hand. She heard his breathing falter too, and it was evidence enough that she had charmed him by virtue of her flat belly and curvy hips. He stayed there for a moment, his breathing changed.

'I must move away,' he said into her ear, his tongue darting out to tease the lobe. 'Before I forget myself and ravage you now.'

'You would ravage me, my lord?' she played coy. His hand tightened on her waist, making her gasp. He pulled away slightly, separating their bodies.

'Yes,' he breathed. 'I would lay you on a bed of silk and rose petals, and make love to you. You would be my student. I: your teacher.'

'It is not a subject I have studied, sir,' she smiled.

'Nor should you. Not with the foppish creatures your uncle invites to each ball. I have watched them through the woods. They are beneath you, lady. They barely know how to please themselves.'

Maria felt a most delightful flush rise to her cheeks.

'You know this, Angel?' she asked softly.

'I would not spoil your precious innocence with words...when I may pray to one day spoil it with action,' she could hear his smile.

'And we would be together,' Maria said softly. 'At the shore of the sea?'

How many times had they dreamed like this, together, sitting in the dark of the woods? Alone by the stream, his soft voice charming images into her head. Fantasies and promises, all of which Maria remembered,and all of which she held dear.

'Wherever you like, my lady. From Hell to Heaven, you could pick your home. I would decorate it for you with garlands of flowers, ruby and white, and when at last I feast upon the beauty of your eyes, I would match their colour to your home, so that you too might see their magnificence each and every day of your life.'

Maria stretched out a hand along the grass. It was met by the Angel's. He kissed the back of it, and gently twined his fingers with hers. The sensation sent shivers down Maria's spine.

'I think your eyes are dark,' she smiled playfully. 'I think they are dark, like the forest at night. Mahogany that is smouldering like a coal seam. Your voice is dark. Divine. Your eyes must match.'

'And my skin, lady? What of my skin?'

'Fair,' she whispered. 'With few freckles. The sun would bronze you, if you but saw it, you creature of the night,' he grinned.

'My lips?'

Maria could hear the tremble in the Angel's voice, as though he were restraining himself with great effort. She had not yet kissed him full on the lips.

'I don't know,' she said. 'Because to think of it...might ruin the surprise?'

The Angel laughed, a deep and throaty sound that made Maria's insides quiver in a most delightful way. Maria moved so that she could sit on her knees. She looked to where she thought he would be. She was surprised when she felt his breath on her throat, then her face. His fingertips brushed her cheek.

'You are beautiful, my lady,' he breathed wistfully. 'So very beautiful.'

'I am yours,' Maria said softly. 'You must know this.'

'I know it,' the Angel said.

'If you mean it,' Maria whispered, 'then kiss me. Kiss me to seal it.'

'If I kiss you, I fear the loss of myself,' he said softly. 'I fear dissolution in you.'

His voice dropped to a sensuous growl. 'I fear I may not be able to stop.'

'Then fail to stop,' Maria said, reaching out her hand. Her fingers met his chest. His skin was hot under his shirt. She let her hand travel up, to where collar met throat. The Angel's breath hitched as she brushed fingers up his throat, and found his lips gently with her thumb.

'Kiss me?' she breathed, as she leaned in.

The Angel met her half way, kissing her lips softly. Maria's heart swelled with happiness. Her nape tingled where his fingers touched. She gasped through her nose when he pressed his lips to hers more firmly, and almost lost her sense altogether when he ran his tongue gently over her bottom lip. He felt less like an angel like this, and more like a man.

'Open your mouth, Maria,' he purred. Maria obeyed.

Her whole body shivered when he slid his tongue inside, rubbing it softly against her own. Without knowing what to do, or how to do it, she kissed him back. His lips were soft and his mouth hot. He tasted like meat, like beef perhaps. Some kind of pie. His beard tickled her face as she tilted her head slightly. The Angel broke the kiss, massaging the back of her neck gently. With the other he touched her cheek softly.

'Angel-' she breathed, wondering if this intense, almost painful feeling in her chest was love.

'_You_ are the angel,' he said, kissing her temple.

'Angel, I-' she tried, but her throat closed up before she could utter the words she desired so much to say. To think this had once been a game she played. Now this love felt too real to risk.

Far across the gardens, Maria heard a voice near the house.

'Maria!' it called.

'Go,' the Angel whispered. 'Go. Now.'

'When will I see you again?' Maria whispered.

'I will send you word,' he breathed.

Maria fled, and the Angel of the Night watched her go, her red dress flowing, her curls bouncing as she ran. He gripped the grass in his strong hands. His mind was a riddle, his heart an aching and confused place. He fled into the woods.

* * *

He took the paper in both hands and tore it. He threw it against the far wall with a cry of frustration. Then he sank, a man too full of thoughts and confusion, to the floor under the window, where he sat with his hands on his knees and his head against the stone.

He rubbed his chest, where his black heart lay. It wouldn't stop aching. Above, the stars wheeled and wheeled again. If tears were diamonds, the Angel wept diamonds that night. For the plans he had laid. For the schemes now so ruined, so beyond salvation – and for how his heart had ruined them.

* * *

Next chapter: continuing the story of Maria and her strange Angel of the Night.


	2. Revelations

2.) Revelations

At breakfast, Loveday announced that she had finished another poem. After a reading and much congratulations, Sir Benjamin turned to Maria.

'And when can we expect to see this Magnum Opus of yours, Maria?'

'It's only half way done, uncle,' said Maria.

'Perhaps you would progress faster if you spent less time wandering outside? I know you like the forest, child, but it's dangerous at night.'

Maria wanted to protest that she hadn't been in the forest – and even moreso that she was not a child - but then they might have reason to watch the grounds more closely.

'But Uncle, since the five thousandth moon, we don't need to fear the De Noir's anymore-'

'There are still rebel factions,' Sir Benjamin said.

'Yes, but Benjamin – if my Father caught them, he'd skillet them alive,' Loveday smiled reassuringly.

'I'm not so sure.'

'Benjamin!' Loveday looked shocked.

'It's no slight against you, my love,' he touched her hand softly. He sighed. 'Forgive me. Old habits die hard.'

Loveday smiled understandingly. Just like her to understand, Maria thought sulkily. Even when Uncle was being ridiculous.

'Maria,' he said finally. 'Save your Uncle a heart attack, yes? Stay out of the forest unless one of us is with you.'

'Yes Uncle,' Maria said, knowing that argument would get her nowhere.

Later, in the summer house, where Loveday's beloved plants bloomed emphatically against every wall, Maria sat with her best friend. Their hands moved in perfect time to an old favourite. When it was done, Loveday lowered her hands slowly into her lap. The last of the music floated through the open window, and left the room bereft.

'What of this sweetheart, then?' Loveday smiled. Maria did her best to look innocent.

'Sweetheart?' she said.

'Don't play all innocent with me!' Loveday scolded playfully. 'I know you've been seeing someone because of that silly smile you wear. Tell me. Come on.'

Maria sighed.

'Alright,' she admitted. 'I have. But you've got to promise to keep it secret!'

'Of course,' Loveday nodded, her hand on her heart. 'What's he like?'

Maria sighed wistfully.

'Oh Loveday, he's wonderful. He has this voice. It's the most beautiful voice in the world. When he speaks...it sends shivers through you. When he sings- Gods,' Maria sighed. Loveday put her chin on her hand with a smile.

'His hands...they're soft...and yet calloused. I know because he held mine,' Maria added quickly, at Loveday's troubled expression. 'He's perfect.'

'So how old is he?' she smiled.

'I...well. I don't actually know,' Maria said. 'I've never asked. I was always too wrapped up in the stories he tells me.'

Loveday laughed.

'Maybe you should ask him!' she grinned, tickling Maria gently. 'He might be an old man!'

Maria watched Loveday go, wrapping her arms around Benjamin at the end of the corridor. She turned to look at the garden, so bright and beautiful. Imagine, she thought. One day, I will run to my Angel. He'll be waiting at the door when I come come from riding Periwinkle. He'll take me in his arms and kiss me. And we'll be so happy.

Maria missed the presence of her Angel. Lying awake in her bed, she stared at the twinkling stars on her ceiling, and amused her romantic sensibilities with visions of Him. She imagined how she thought his face might look, how his eyes would burn. The colour of his lips.

She fell asleep full of a strange urgency, a belly-level frustration she understood deep down, but could not bring herself to explore.

It was two days before Maria received any word. When she did get a letter, she grasped it tight in her pocket and excused herself from dinner as fast as she possibly could without raising suspicion. She hurried to her tower room, and locked the door. She smiled as she slit open the envelope and pulled out the paper.

_**Dear Maria,**_

_**Our last meeting is too long ago. Our next is too far off. Your absence sits heavy on my heart – already I feel a pain growing in me that can only be cured by the soft touch of your hands, the sweetness of your young voice. Our first kiss lingers with me, and I will hold it close. I will call my strength to me, because I have been called to urgent business, and I must go today. I will return in a few weeks.**_

_**With Loving Thoughts,**_

_**Your Angel of the Night**_

Maria read it through again. She put her head on her hand, so forlorn now that it had to be weeks, not just days.

* * *

The days passed slowly after the arrival of The Letter. Maria walked the house, the grounds. She strolled in the woods, listening. The trees whispered their condolences, gestured their sorrow. Their empathy for the loneliness she was feeling. For the lack of her Angel. The days did stretch on so. Breakfast, Lunch...Dinner. Endless parties. Parties that now seemed less aimed at the fun of the endeavour, and more focused on finding her a suitable mate.

Loveday remained silent to Benjamin on the subject of her suitor, for which Maria was extremely grateful. She did not want to explain that she now loved a phantom.

Maria stayed awake as late as she could, she avoided returning to her tower room, knowing that if she did, a surprise visit from the Angel might be missed.

The evenings had become slightly colder, Maria thought, as she strolled amongst the potted plants on the patio. She missed his voice, his presence, the warmth of his body behind hers. Her sadness was a palpable thing, but she had learned from her time with Robin. She forced herself to dance. Her feet sinking into the grass, she ran silently across the lawn, twirling, her head thrown back, towards the trees. The wind seemed to sing in her ears. She could hear the subliminal pound and throb of the forest's living heart.

She danced, her eyes closed, a blindfold upon them as though this piece of sympathetic magic could bring her strange suitor to her side.

'Angel-' she breathed to the wind, her heart aching to hear his wonderful voice. 'Angel I miss you so much.'

Maria swirled left, right...her feet following a pattern used too many times in heels, on ballroom floors. She held her arms out. He was _here_, she thought, imagining the warmth of his skin soaking through his sleeve. He was holding her, dancing with her. His lips on her neck-

'Yesss-' she breathed, so deep in her fantasy she did not hear his approach.

A hand met hers. Another slid around her waist. Maria very nearly screamed, reaching to tear off her blindfold. A strong hand caught hers before she could rip it free. A hot body pressed against hers.

'Angel?' she gasped, feeling his calloused hand on the back of hers.

'Yes, my lady.'

'You- your letter said you were away-'

'I returned sooner than expected,' he breathed, pulling her body close. 'I have missed you, my beautiful one, like the trees miss the sun in the depths of winter. My heart has ached,' he took her hand from the blindfold knot and placed it on his warm, solid chest.

'Gods-' Maria breathed, too shocked and overcome to keep a pretence of propriety. Maria reached out with both arms. The Angel slid his arms around her, bringing her into a soft and loving embrace. A hand stroked her hair. Maria melted, knowing his strong and solid embrace could heal her troubles.

'Don't weep, lady,' he purred.

'You were gone so long, I thought-'

The Angel's lips weren't smiling precisely. There was a twitch there. A tiny tick that betrayed his emotion.

'I feared,' she said finally, her face breaking into a smile.

'I'm here now,' he purred, lowering his lips to kiss her jaw softly. 'I'm here,' he repeated softly, stroking her cheek with the backs of his fingers.

For a long time, Maria stood in his arms, hers wrapped around his back. He felt so warm, so comfortingly big and strong, she never wanted to move. How would it feel, she wondered, to sleep next to him each and every night? She could never fear the night again, as she used to as a child, with such a protector as this.

They would be close, she decided, when they made love at long last, they would have to be close. How precisely, Maria wasn't sure, but she imagined some sort of cuddling. The thought made her blush.

'I can see the colour in your cheeks,' said the Angel. 'What unholy thoughts are in your pretty head?'

Maria could tell he was joking. It made her blush even harder.

'Beautiful,' he soothed, a hand on each side of her face. Maria smiled.

'Will you blush for me like this when we join, hmm? When our bodies become one...when at last we have no need for these garments,' he plucked at her dress sleeve. 'When we mould together, the two of us, when I teach you, my beautiful student, the ways of love?'

'I expect I'll blush very hard,' Maria said honestly.

'I think I'll light candles,' he warned, a smile in his rich voice. 'So that I can see every moment of it.'

'Do you like my innocence, Angel?'

'I do,' he breathed. 'More than I can tell you.'

'And when I am no longer innocent?'

'I will enjoy your knowledge just as much,' he said, brushing his lips over her jaw.

'Angel-' Maria said softly, her whole body alight. His hands on her waist, so big they almost encircled it completely. His lips on her neck, it made it hard to think. 'I have to tell you- I have to.'

'What must you tell me?' he grinned against her throat. She gasped as he bit the skin gently.

'That...that I love you.'

Maria waited with her breath held, her whole body inflamed. The Angel kissed her throat, her face, finally her lips. His kiss was so intense, she wondered if her knees would give and leant against him. Unbenknownst to her, his green eyes were sparking with something close to sorrow. Maria couldn't see the pain on his face.

'Love?' he whispered, his voice unsteady. That silence stretched on forever. Fear crawled up Maria's spine. Then he continued. 'What is love but a foolish fancy? If it's this heat in my chest, this roaring need in my loins, this consuming desire to earn _your_ love then I love you – if not I'm lost.'

Maria felt tears spring in her eyes.

'You must see me,' he growled seriously. Maria stopped his hand. Some warning in her chest made her pause. There was something wrong. If there had been a fantasy, it was broken. The realisation hit her – this romantic creation of theirs, these blindfolds and sweet, uncommitted words could not last forever. Not with the heat building in her soul. And not with the desire building in his. That frightened her, and she drew back a pace.

'What's wrong?' she asked.

'We must end this game, this old man's heart cannot take it,' he said, reaching for her blindfold.

'What do you mean?'

'When I started this quest, it was with every intention to take and to hurt. To seek revenge on you and your insipid family. Now, here, I cannot do it. So take off the blindfold and see for yourself. Feast your eyes on the creature you say you love.'

Maria's hands were shaking as she reached for the blindfold. _My core feels the same_, she assured herself. _No matter what I see, I will still love him. _She sensed terrible pain in her Angel, and she dreaded the revelation of it. The comparative light of night-time flooded in as she threw the fabric on the ground, but didn't dare open her eyes.

'What are you afraid of?' he breathed fiercely. Maria felt her breath hitch. Then she opened her eyes.

* * *

Next chapter: Betrayal


	3. Betrayal

Author's Notes:

* * *

3.) Betrayal

Maria gasped. She sat down suddenly on the grass, before her legs could give. She blinked a few times, feeling faint as shame - and fear- washed over her. Before her, his dark coat stirring in the breeze was Coeur De Noir. His bearded face was thinner than when she had last seem him. His eyes were no less weighty, his form no less imposing. Suddenly she recognised his voice, his smell. She had met him so infrequently since the five thousandth moon that she barely knew him. How could she have been so blind? _This_ was the creature she loved? Maria clutched her stomach. She was breathing just a little too fast.

'How-' she breathed. 'How can it be _you_?'

Lovedays Father. What would he do? Had he trapped her? Planned all this so that he could tell her uncle?

'Is it such a surprise? I am not without passion, little moon princess,' he purred. 'I am not without..._desire_.'

'I don't believe it,' she shook her head.

De Noir's heavy eyes looked right into her as he bent down low.

'You sang to me-' she whispered. 'You wooed me. You...you danced and we...we kissed. Did you mean any of it?'

'No,' De Noir said, his face changing from anger to something more complex, more subtle. His lips drawn tight, his eyes heavy. 'No. For a month I meant not a word of it. I sought to hurt you. For a month,' his voice cracked slightly. 'Then my plan was thwarted.'

Maria couldn't breathe. She looked at him crouching there. He looked slimmer. His long hair, now half way down his back stirred in the breeze.

'Thwarted by a slip of a girl. By a child.'

Maria drew a shaky breath.

'A child you love,' she said, her voice furious. 'You must do, or you would have taken me. For your own pleasure. Every time we were alone in the woods – it was you who resisted, pulled back. For _fear_.'

De Noir's face lost its anger. He put a hand on the lawn. His cloak was a dark pool around him.

'Perhaps I did not want an heir,' he said softly.

Maria felt tears prick her eyes.

'You're a liar,' she breathed. Her anger peaked. 'Loveday will find out. And she will shun you. Uncle will know of this, and he will hunt you down!' Maria forced herself to her feet.

Her heart felt fit to burst, her breathing shallow, she stood and moved away from him. Dizziness swept over her in a wave. She felt so trapped. Her love for the Angel was a physical pain, the idea of walking away forever, no matter how he had hurt her, filled her with the kind of dread she never wanted to feel again. She hesitated. De Noir saw it, and seized his one and only chance.

'Listen to me, you foolish child,' De Noir grabbed her arm in his powerful hand. Maria turned to stare into his eyes. 'You tried to cure me of my pride by force. You failed. You were not the first. Now you try to cure yourself of me. But I am already under your skin.'

'Get away from me,' Maria said. She'd meant it to sound commanding. It czame out more like pleading. _Walk away from me. Make it easy for me_. De Noir shook his dark head.

'No.'

'I'll scream,' she threatened.

'Scream,' he smiled grimly. 'You will _never _see me again. Do you think your uncle would allow me within a six mile radius of you if he thought I had violated you?'

'I would tell him you hadn't,' Maria said.

'What good would that do? There isn't much else evil old De Noir would want with his pretty young niece,' he said. He stepped closer. 'Not to be near her. Not to count those last minutes before a life ends, before heartbreak begins.'

'I don't believe you!' Maria yelled, swinging her arm over to hit him. De Noir caught it effortlessly, pinning it behind her back. Maria struggled to free her other hand, but it was caught and restrained in a similar manner. Their bodies pressed close, De Noirs eyes showed the same stubbornness as Maria's.

'You don't love me,' Maria whispered. Those words caused such pain to lance through her chest that she felt new tears brewing. More than she'd ever thought possible. 'You lied to me. You said it yourself. To hurt me. I thought you'd changed. I thought-'

'Assumption is your worst quality Maria!' De Noir hissed, his face inches off hers. His eyes burned into her. 'Help me, eh? Cease your accusations and help me to forget!'

'You can never forget,' Maria whispered. Her eyes roamed over him. His black hair, the beard. The soft lips that had kissed her so passionately. Her dreams of happiness. Her beautiful house, her perfect love. How could she have that now?

'Are you so quick to lose faith in this? Your Angel of the Night?' he said softly, and his voice caused her to shiver. 'Can you so quickly forget my voice? Maria? The heat of my skin, my lips on yours? Can you ignore what you _feel_?'

'You did!' Maria sobbed then, turning a twisted face on De Noir.

'I embrace what I feel!' De Noir hissed angrily. 'I accept it. And it will _ruin_ me. Still I take it into me, I _live_ it. I cannot deny it. I have given you the keys to my heart, Maria. Do with them as you please. Announce me as your rapist to your uncle. Cast me out, I will never return. You have no idea how this had tortured me, the pain I have endured. Or take me in your arms. I will endure.'

Maria sniffed. Her arms pinned, she couldn't move away. Coeur De Noir met her eyes. She looked into them, noting their vibrant colour and dark intelligence. Yes, those were certainly the eyes of her Angel.

'What is love but a foolish fancy?' he whispered slowly. ' If it's this heat in my chest, this roaring need in my loins, this consuming desire to earn your love then I love you – if not...I am lost.'

He released her. Maria wrapped her arms around herself.

'Love me?' He said it so softly, almost a suggestion. Maria shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

'How can I?' she choked. 'You lied to me. Your lied to them!' she pointed to the glowing house. 'I can't.'

The grass disappeared under her feet. He didn't pursue. She fled across the grounds, up the steps, and slammed the door behind her. She sank behind it, her head in her hands. That was how Loveday found her, early the next morning. Despite Maria's protests, Loveday took her into their old classroom shut the door.

'What happened?' Loveday breathed, holding her arms open for Maria. Maria tried not to cry, her breath hitching and her lip trembling, but her stubborn resolve was no match for Lovedays gentle breed of understanding. Maria enfolded herself in her.

'I can't tell you,' she choked into Loveday's shoulder. 'I just can't.'

'Why? Maria, you know I'm here for you. Tell me what happened. It was this suitor, wasn't it?'

Maria sat down slowly on the window ledge.

'I promise you, whatever you say will stay between us. If that's what you want. Please, Maria.'

'It was...' she started, but her throat seized up. 'He's a liar. He told me...he never told me who he was. Never told me...why. Why he wanted me. To hurt me. He said it himself...to hurt.'

'Who is he?' Loveday asked softly.

Maria looked skyward, her eyes blurry with tears.

'From what you told me, he seemed so-' Loveday trailed off. Then her eyes went wide. Maria shook her head, as it it would help stop the realisation.

'Oh God,' Loveday breathed. 'No...no, Maria, tell me it wasn't- Please tell me he didn't-'

'I don't know-' Maria tried to speak, but it was too late, 'who you're talking about-'

'My Father!' Loveday whispered, taking Maria by the shoulders.

Maria melted into tears. Loveday's expression melted into panic. She held Maria at arm's length.

'Did he touch you, Maria? You must tell me!'

'No!' Maria's voice rose without her meaning to. 'No...he didn't. He...he just wooed me. He bought me flowers. Told me stories. Sang to me. Held me...he...insisted I wear a blindfold. I've been so stupid. So stupid to fall in love-'

'God,' Loveday pulled her close and stroked her hair while she cried. Her own mind a muddle of confusion and near betrayal, she resolved to sort this personally, without Benjamin's knowledge.

* * *

When Maria was asleep, claiming a sickness, Loveday fetched her cloak on tip-toe. She let herself out the servants exit, and slipped unseen into the woods with her horse. Once inside the trees, she climbed up onto his bare back. Steering him south she whispered to him.

'Quick as you can, brother. I need to see my Father.'

The horse found a new turn of speed for his loving mistress. They were through the five miles in no time, and galloping up the long grassy bank to De Noir castle. Loveday slid off her horse at the top. She thanked him softly and strode up the steps to the castle.

'Father!' she called, picking up her crimson dress. She trod down the stone steps inside. 'Father!'

'Daughter,' came his familiar voice. He shut the door to the dining room behind him. Loveday turned. He looked slimmer, she thought. He'd been indulging in football again, perhaps tennis, as he was wont to do whenever he felt the need to slim down. Loveday wasted no time. She hurried to him, putting her hands on his broad shoulders.

'You must tell me what happened, Father.'

'A fine greeting. What are you talking about, daughter?' he asked.

'Maria!' Loveday said urgently.

'Who?'

'Don't play with me!' she hissed. 'Maria is heartbroken. It was your name that came up. What did you _do_ to her?'

De Noir said something rude under his breath, then without a second word tugged Loveday into the empty dining room and shut the door.

'You should not have come here,' he said. 'Not with your wounded heart. Not like this.'

'I love Maria.' Loveday said. 'She says you've wooed her, that she loves you! That you hurt her. Is it true?'

De Noir's lips thinned, he rolled his eyes. A gesture Maria knew only too well. Guilt.

'It's true,' he said finally. 'I did woo her. She...did confess her love.'

'How _could_ you? You've ruined her, she's beside herself-'

'And I am not?' De Noir hissed. Loveday came up sharp, surprised. 'I am not? Maria is not the only one whose heart feels broken, my daughter. I began this game out of foolish pride, to strike back at that insufferable oaf Merryweather. Now I find myself caught in a tangled web of my own misdeeds, and I suffer for it!'

Loveday watched with pity as tears glistened in her Father's eyes.

'You sought to hurt Benjamin? After everything we've been through?'

De Noir said nothing. His emotionless face was answer enough. Loveday felt tears of hurt brewing, but she pushed them down for Maria's sake.

'You truly love her?' Loveday asked.

'I don't have to answer those questions from you, Daughter.'

'You will answer!' Loveday said, her voice darkening. 'So help me you will answer, Father or not.'

'How dare you-'

'How dare _I_?' Loveday's voice became something De Noir had not heard in a long time. Genuine anger. '_How dare I?_ You think it fit and right to hurt my family? If that's so this feud will start all over again, for a different reason.'

De Noir threw his hands up, defeated.

'Gods, girl,' he growled. 'Yes! Yes, I love her! And it will not help. Maria has set her heart on hating me.'

'No wonder,' Loveday said.

'To your Merryweather family, your family so full of _grace_,' he scoffed, 'no amount of repentance can cure high and mighty pride. So let Maria be. Let her stew. I've learned my lesson. And before long I will find some other amusement.'

Loveday watched as her Father put a palm to his cheek to destroy the incriminating tear there. All the anger drained out of her at that single gesture.

'I haven't seen you cry since I was a child,' Loveday said softly.

'I'm not crying,' De Noir lied. Loveday bit her lip.

'Father,' she said. 'Maria's heart cannot take much more of this. And I will not stand by and see her ruined. Write to her. Tell her you love her. Father, don't make my mistakes!'

De Noir looked at his daughter then. He bloomed beauty, her loveliness. He could see so much of his late wife in her. He felt his lips tilt into a smile.

'Are you stark raving mad?' he asked. Loveday seemed to think about it. Then she nodded.

'She loves you,' Loveday said. 'Benjamin will hate it, of course. But love is love. Please, Father. Let's not argue...you know me. I only want you both to be happy.'

* * *

Maria went on, for nearly a week. Her heart was a riddle of pain. She avoided all attempts at talk from Loveday. Her chest felt empty, and it had come to the point that she wondered if it would ever feel full again. She craved her Angel. Her prince of the Night. She craved his touch, the brush of his lips. His incredible voice, sometimes husky, so soon serious. As varied and wonderful as all the textures of darkness. And every time she thought of him, she saw De Noir.

His plump frame and rough beard. The Father of her last love-gone-wrong. The man who had caused her so much misery before the five thousandth moon. _How_ could it have been Coeur De Noir who caused all these strange and wonderful feelings within her? This rising tide of desire? This burning between her legs? She lay on her bed at night, her eyes full of tears and her heart full of hate.

I hate you, Coeur De Noir, she thought. I hate your hair, I hate your beautiful voice, I hate you. I hate everything you are. I hate your tendency to wear black. Every social gathering he had ever attended, he'd been dressed in black and it was so flattering, to soft, so damn _depressing! _Why not a soft shade of green, she wondered? Why not green to match his eyes? I hate that green.

But hate was not quick to come, and even as she said these words in the silent dark of her mind, she knew they were untrue. More than once she had seen the unicorn in the woods, beckoning to her. Drawing her close. Come, it whispered. Let me take you to him. My heart is still too raw, she lied. His betrayal is too close to me. I cannot think objectively. I don't want to.

Maria swiped at her eyes, already sore, and hugged her teddybear close. Coeur De Noir was not one of Uncle Benjamin's inexperienced and foppish boys. He was not a blushing youth, a stammering lad. He was a grown man. Surely, said the reasonable voice in her mind, he was old enough to know very well what he wanted from a girl. And what did every grown man want? Maria thought back to her teachings.

Never let them get their hands on you, said Mrs Heliotrope. Never let them touch past your hand, or they will not want to stop, and you will very soon find yourself in a lot of trouble. Maria had never quite understood how it all worked, but she had a feeling (from the French drawings she had glimpsed in Uncle's library) that it had something to do with the private, pink place between her legs.

Maria sniffed. De Noir was easily strong enough to overpower her. Fit enough to run her down, to keep her still while he took what he wanted. Why had he never taken her? All those times in the woods and the gardens, blindfolded and completely at his mercy. She didn't buy his excuse of not wanting another heir. She thought back to the summer solstice ball. Her distant cousin, not a year old on his knee, while De Noir played with his small hands.

'Maybe we should search a bride for you Father,' Loveday had joked. 'Then you can have one of your own.'

'I've had enough of brides,' was all he said. For a tough man, Maria thought, he was surprisingly content to play with children.

Could a man fake love for that long and not begin to feel it, she wondered? Her motivations for wandering in the woods had been less than innocent. Foolish curiosity, and the desire to touch the unicorn. And that desire had turned into wisdom, the knowledge that she could never catch him, and so she became satisfied, even happy to simply look. Could De Noir have become satisfied? Did men change their priorities?

She fell asleep with these thoughts in her mind. The last thing she saw before she slept was the Coeur himself, his beard shaved into a goatee that reminded her of the god Pan. He was looking right at her, his expressive green eyes intense and beautiful. When she woke in the morning, there was a letter. Threaded through the roll of it was a white rose.

Maria stared at it for what must have been ten minutes before slowly, she picked it up. Its fragrance wafted up to her nose, as delicate and as lovely as any she had ever smelled. She broke the red wax seal on the letter and opened it.

_**Maria,**_

_**If I expressed my sorrow at your loss in words, it would fill pages to make a book. It would be my downfall because as you are aware – my men require and strong, stoic and heartless leader. They are to be disappointed. In my pride I have risked all and lost.**_

_**If I must wait a thousand nights in the woods alone, I will do so -for one more glance at your face.**_

_**Love, Maria. What is love but a foolish fancy? If it is this agony in my chest, this roaring need in my loins, this consuming desire to earn your love then I love you – if not I am truly lost.**_

_**In the dark and the cold I am alone, now. Heart bared I have handed you a poisoned-tip dagger, and I stand awaiting your stroke. Do not keep me here, in this agony and torment when I have repented. Strike. Send me back to the darkness so that I may be alone with my sorrow. I wait for you in the woods tonight and every night.**_

_**All the love in me,**_

_**Your Angel of the Night, William.**_

Maria read it and reread it. It was lucky the Ottoman was so close. She sat without thinking, her knees as week as the blancmange from the night before. Her heart ached. Her stomach felt hollow. The rose sat, as innocent as could be. She picked it up and stared at the delicate symmetry contained therein. She pushed the letter into her pocket and all but ran down to breakfast.

The day could not have gone more slowly. Maria sat in the summer house, a book on her lap, but her gaze was continually drawn away to the woods. Her concentration was broken. She put it down in her lap in the end, and reached into her pocket for the note.

Panic took her by the throat, she searched feverishly for the letter. She retraced her steps, found nothing. Terrible fear sat in her stomach, spitting acid up her throat, making her heart burn. God please, she prayed. Don't let anyone find it before I do. Not unless it's Loveday. On her way back down the stairs, Maria's eyes fell upon her Uncle, who was standing at the base, engrossed in a letter.

He looked up as she put a foot on the step below. His face went from shock to anger. Maria realised - in his hands was the missing letter.

* * *

Next : Honour and Vengeance


	4. Honour and Vengeance

4. Honour and Vengeance

* * *

'What is this?' Benjamin asked harshly. Maria's mouth worked for long seconds.

'What _is_ this? A_ heartless leader_? His downfall? He will wait for you...in the _woods?_ Who is this man?'

'Uncle, I-'

'How long has this been going on?' Benjamin's voice rose. 'You've given yourself to him!'

'No!' Maria protested. 'Uncle...he's been the perfect gentleman, I swear. He-'

Benjamin leant in, grinding out the words.

'_Who is he?!_'

'I love him!' she blurted out, before she could stop herself. Those words had been hovering on the tip of her tongue since she woke. Saying it out loud, she realised it was the truth, and nothing but. Her heart ached, dull in her chest. 'I love him. Please Uncle...he hasn't harmed me. He...he is a De Noir...William De Noir.'

'_William De Noir_?' Benjamin's face was twisted. 'That old rat? I'll kill him! I'll tear him apart!'

'Please, Uncle-' Maria begged, snatching the letter out of his hands and hiding it behind her back.

'Don't!' Benjamin warned. 'You've been abused. Brainwashed, Maria. Coeur De Noir is a filthy dog, and you are not to see him again. He is no longer welcome here. I'll see to him myself-'

'No!' Maria yelled after him, but he was already gone, jogging down the front steps. The heavy door swung shut behind him. 'Loveday!' she cried to the rafters. 'Loveday! Where are you!?'

Maria dashed up the stairs to the older woman's study, her heels pounding on the floors. She shoved the door open. Inside, Loveday was just rising, concern on her face.

'Maria!' she cried, seeing the state of her niece.

'He's gone- Loveday, he's gone to kill him!'

'Who?'

Maria clutched her stomach.

'Your...your Father. He sent me this letter...Uncle saw it!'

Loveday snatched it out of her hands and read it fast, her face dissolving into worry.

'Oh Goddess,' Loveday whispered, grabbing Maria by the hand. Just then, the sound of hooves on stone could be heard outside. Loveday pulled Maria to the window. Below, Benjamin was taking off on horseback into the woods.

'Stupid man, he's going to get himself killed!' Loveday breathed. 'Come on.'

Maria had never saddled a horse so fast in her life. Periwinkle wouldn't be able to run fast enough. She slid the bridle over the Stallions face and checked the girdle. Moments later she was in the saddle, kicking the enormous creature into motion. Loveday followed, the mare under her whinnying.

'We've got the catch him before he can kill anyone!' Maria cried.

'I'm more concerned for Benjamin,' Loveday said, kicking her horse. 'Trust me, my Father can take care of himself.'

Maria leaned down low over the stallion's neck, his mane whipping her face pink. Not far off, Loveday shot into the woods. Maria patted his neck gently.

'Quick as you can,' she pleaded. The stallion lengthened his stride, kicking up leaves and bracken. He covered ground at an alarming rate, and pulled hard enough that Maria had trouble staying on his back, but she was grateful for his speed. She gripped his sides hard with her legs, praying he'd keep his footing. Across the creek, the water reaching the height of her face, up the leafy bank. Loveday was a quarter of a mile ahead, the better rider. Somewhere far ahead, Maria could hear Benjamins horse.

The stallion approached a fallen tree fearlessly, hurling them five feet up. The bump made Maria's teeth clack and her stomach churn, still she hung on. The five miles to De Noir castle flew. Before she knew it, Maria was approaching the edge of the woods.

'Benjamin!' Loveday called into the trees. Maria spotted movement on the grassy bank ahead.

'Loveday, look!' Maria yelled, tugging the reins.

The stallion responded, turning sharp right and Maria burst out into bright light. Ahead of her by half a mile was her Uncle, his coat flying, hair a mess. His horse mounted the hill, shot over the top, and Maria followed. Loveday swerved out of the trees.

'Benjamin, stop!' Loveday cried.

Benjamin turned in the saddle to see the women approach. He slowed his horse, anger all over his face. On the hill, De Noir castle cut an imposing figure.

'Stop!' Loveday yelled, drawing level, and pulling her horse to the left. He swerved obediently, cutting off Benjamins escape. Benjamin tugged on the reins, and the horse all but skidded to a stop.

'This is ridiculous!' Loveday said sternly. 'If you would let Maria explain-'

'This is none of your concern, Loveday.'

Loveday looked hurt.

'It's every bit my concern!' she shouted after him, as Benjamin urged his horse into a trot. 'You're going to get yourself killed for pride!'

'Your dear Father has gone one step too far,' Benjamin growled, finally turning his horse to face Loveday. 'He's an animal. A violator. And he'll be punished.'

'He hasn't done anything wrong!' Maria cried.

Benjamin turned again, but he didn't have time to go far.

'I'm flattered,' said a nearby figure. Maria jumped so hard her horse spooked under her. She calmed him with a few words and a pat. Loveday turned her head. Sitting on his brown horse, having reached the top of the hill from the fields was none other than Coeur De Noir. He cut an impressive figure indeed. In black from head to toe, his leather hat covering most of his face. 'That you would defend my honour, little moon princess.'

'It's her honour too, Father,' Loveday said.

'Well, Sir Benjamin?' De Noir said, reaching up to remove the feathered cap. Maria gasped. The dream. De Noir's full beard was gone. He'd shaved it into a goatee. Maria shivered. So, the dream had been correct. It was still strange seeing him like this, in the light of day. Knowing that it was Loveday's Father she was in love with.

Then she looked closely and saw the spot at his neck where his shirt was open. She remembered the warmth of his skin. How he felt, so soft and so strong. He arced an elegant black eyebrow.

'No protestations? No vicious attack upon my person?' he smirked.

Benjamin drew a sword from his waist. De Noir only smiled. Maria shook her head.

'Stop it!' she yelled. De Noir didn't even glance at her.

'Let me guess,' he said. 'I am a dog. A violator of women. Of young, beautiful women. I must be punished. Correct?'

'Put your forked tongue away, De Noir,' Benjamin said. 'And fight like a man.'

'Like a man, you say?' De Noir smirked. Then he was off his horse, his hands flexing. 'Come on then, you ridiculous boy. Let's see if you can beat me.'

'Father, don't-'

'Be quiet, Daughter. Do you have so little faith in yourself that you need a blade?' De Noir jeered at Benjamin. 'Are you so weak? So pathetic?'

Benjamin sheathed his sword and dismounted in one smooth move. His feet his the ground. He was taller than De Noir by a good few inches, Maria realised. It probably didn't matter. She'd felt De Noir's strength. She knew he could fight. He smiled.

Maria slid off her horse.

'Please don't do this,' Loveday pleaded.

'Quiet!' De Noir snapped. She fell silent. 'Come on then, boy.'

Benjamin launched himself at De Noir, hands going for his throat. De Noir drew his fist back and cracked him square in the jaw. Maria flinched as Benjamin reeled back. De Noir chuckled. It only made Benjamin angrier, she realised, as he attacked again. She jumped back into Loveday's horse as the men reached a strange sort of deadlock, their hands caught up – somebody was going to move, and it would be whoever was weakest.

Benjamin grimaced as De Noir twisted his grip on his hand, bending back fingers. Benjamin gave, ducking down to nurse his hand. De Noir smirked – right before Benjamin rocketed up and punched him in the jaw. In the split second in which he was still dazed, the younger man headbutted him.

De Noir recovered frighteningly fast. He lashed out with a foot, taking Benjamin's legs out. He didn't seem to have really felt the blows, past the initial shock. Loveday put her hands over her face. Benjamin dropped with a cry of pain, and De Noir cracked him in the jaw with his knee.

Benjamin reeled back, and De Noir shoved him down with his boot. He hit the floor, his eyes mis-matched.

'Benjamin!' Loveday cried, sliding off her horse.

Maria shook her head. Blood was running from De Noirs nose. He swiped it away, advanced a pace. Benjamin stirred suddenly. Something glittered in his hand. Maria realised what it was, in that eternal second of panic. She burst into action.

Loveday's face contorted in slow motion.

'NO!' she screamed. De Noir realised too late. Benjamin cocked the pistol, tensed his finger. Maria threw herself forward – and the shot discharged.

* * *

For long seconds there was no noise at all. Then a body hit the floor, and the screaming started.

'Maria!' Benjamin yelled, looking at the pistol, then casting it away like he'd been burned. Loveday rushed forwards. De Noir caught his would-be bride before she could hit the floor and laid her down. Maria let out a cry as the pain rushed in to greet her, and went to grasp the wound. De Noir pushed her hands away, found the bullet hole and pressed his hand over it. Maria convulsed, her hands tight in his black velvet robes.

'Maria!' Loveday breathed, her hands dancing over her Father's bloodied hand. The blood soaked through Maria's dress, wetting her side fast. De Noir pressed down harder, his eyes panicked, his face pale.

'No, no no-' Loveday whispered.

'Guards!' De Noir yelled. 'Open the gates! NOW!'

Maria felt the tears running down her face. Her side burned.

'William-' she whispered, so softly he almost didn't hear her. Benjamin sat, stricken and white on the ground. Close enough to hear. 'William-' she tried again.

De Noir's green eyes were wider than she had ever seen them, his face full of shock.

'Maria?' he said, his voice unsteady.

'I love you-' she breathed, before the pain could take all the breath out of her. 'Please...please don't kill Uncle.'

Loveday looked on while her Father took Maria's tiny hand in his, and clutched her body tightly. Then he looked up.

'That will depend on whether you live or die, my love,' he hissed, his murderous gaze on Benjamin.

'Please-' Maria's breath hitched.

'Don't try to speak,' Loveday said quickly.

'Hold the wound,' De Noir said roughly, letting Loveday take over. Then he slid his arms under Maria and lifted her easily.

The crowd parted for the De Noir leader and his bleeding charge. People stared at Loveday walking backwards, her hands clamped tightly over a deep abdominal wound. The blood was already half way up her sleeves when they reached the dining room.

'Maria?' Loveday said. 'Don't go to sleep. Maria, please. Stay with me. Put her down, Father, she's not going to last-'

Benjamin took hold of the tablecloth and pulled, spilling plates and glasses onto the flagstone floor. He cleared a space, where De Noir laid Maria.

'Go,' he said to Loveday, shrugging off his jacket. His shirtsleeves were white against his black waistcoat. Maria clenched her teeth. 'Get the surgeon,' De Noir ordered.

Benjamin shrugged out of his coat, then his shirt and handed it to De Noir, who took it and pressed down over the wound hard. Maria felt a scream rise out of her throat unbidden. Her nails dug into De Noir's hands.

'You will stay,' De Noir said, his green eyes catching Maria's and holding them. Maria cried out as another wave of terrible pain washed over her. 'Open your eyes!' De Noir yelled.

Maria forced her eyes open, nausea rising up her gullet.

'Don't close them,' he warned. 'Don't you _dare_ close them.'

Less than a minute later, Loveday returned alone. Tears streamed down her face as she ran to her Father and whispered into his ear. Maria caught it.

'He's drunk!'

'Teeth and tails,' De Noir boomed. 'Must a man do everything himself?! Go,' he instructed Loveday. 'Fetch water, a pair of thin tweezers from the fire. Rags and a needle and thread. Be quick!'

Maria's eyes were heavy, her whole body had gone sleepy. Her side was agony, made worse by the pressure De Noir was putting on her. She wondered if his hands would go right through her.

'Maria,' Benjamin leaned in, his face swam into view. 'Forgive me...forgive me-'

'It hurts Uncle-' Maria choked, gripping De Noir's hands. 'Please...make him stop.'

Benjamin's face cracked, but he recovered himself fast. He shook his head.

'You'll bleed to death,' he soothed. 'William is helping. He can save you,' Benjamin's gaze transferred to the eldest, bloodied De Noir.

'It hurts so much,' Maria hissed.

'Hang on, Maria,' Benjamin said softly, his hand smoothing her hair. His tears dripped onto her neck.

* * *

Next Chapter: Repentance


	5. Repentance

* * *

5. Repentance

Maria gripped Lovedays hands, her face a rictus of pain. She tried to arch away when the tweezers pushed into her belly, but Benjamin held her down, all his weight on her thin body. De Noir's face was a picture of concentration, his hand surprisingly steady as he found the bullet, opened the tweezers. Maria's scream echoed off the rafters as he pushed in deep, gripped the bullet and pulled it free. It hit the stone table with a dull clink.

'Needle!' he demanded, and was handed one in very short order by a serving maid who had come to help. At some point while De Noir's fingers were still in her belly, Maria closed her eyes, no longer having the will to withstand the pain. People moved and bustled all around. De Noirs fingers pulled and tugged, and Maria was sure he would gut her. The needle was sharp, a different and no less awful form of pain than the bullet.

She heard someone calling her name. Again and again they called, shaking her. But she sank, deep into the dark and the dreamless, where green eyes waited.

Maria felt consciousness return slowly. She rose, like a light and frothy soap bubble towards the glassy surface, and burst through. Her eyes closed, she could hear voices.

'If she dies-' threatened one. William, she realised.

'She won't Father,' Loveday soothed.

* * *

Maria tossed and turned, writhing under thin blankets. Somebody placed and replaced a cold fabric on her head, but it didn't stop the burning in her body. Her joints ached so much she was sure she must be dead. Had she gone to hell, she wondered? Slipping in and out of consciousness, she caught snippets of conversation. The voices were distorted. More than once a face loomed into view that made her heart race and her blood curdle. Red eyes and once, a very dark apparition that spoke her name softly. His fingers were freezing on her cheek.

'Back to the light,' it said, in a voice like the wind. 'Back you come.'

Maria groaned as the pain stretched on and on, her face wet with tears. Afraid she'd rip her stiches, they tied her to the bedframe. A candle burned in the thick dark. Maria could hear her own shallow breathing. The burning in her side was unabating. Too much to handle. Awake, but unable to move, she listened from the deep place in her soul to the voices outside.

'Maria,' somebody said. 'Please Maria. Don't leave us. God- I'm so sorry, Maria. Please wake up. Please-'

'I was seventeen, a right little bastard, too. Heir to a kingdom. She was twenty-'

'Maria? Please come back, love. Please. God, if she has to die, release her fast-'

Then without warning, the light flooded in, the shadows drew back and Maria opened her eyes slowly. Loveday gasped. William turned to look at her.

'Maria!' Loveday smiled, coming to smooth her hair and forehead. She slid a cold cloth onto Maria's head. 'Thank God.'

'Loveday,' Maria said croakily. Her gaze moved to the dark figure that sat, slumped in the armchair behind Loveday. he was asleep, his face slack. His eyes moved under their lids.

'He hasn't been out of this room,' Loveday said softly, kissing the back of Maria's hand. Loveday rose, and shook De Noir gently awake.

He stirred, blinking, then his gaze fell on Maria. He rose before his legs were ready, crossed the room unsteadily and sank to his knees beside her.

'Maria,' he breathed. His eyes were soft, rings under his eyes betrayed many sleepness nights. Maria tried to move. She gasped softly. Her belly was agony. De Noir touched her face tenderly.

'I'm sorry,' Maria whispered. 'I lost the letter and-'

'No,' he shook his dark head. 'You are not sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for. You saved my life, you foolish girl. You _idiot_. I thought you were gone,' his voice was soft, sensuous. He brushed her damp hair back.

'For a while...I think I was,' Maria said softly.

'Forgive me,' he leaned in close, so that she could see there was no untruth in his eyes. 'I was a foolish old man.'

Maria nodded unhesitatingly.

'I missed you so much,' Maria said quietly. De Noir smoothed her hair gently. Maria tried to move her arms to hold him, but the pain caused her to gasp. De Noir caught her hand and laid it on her chest.

'Don't try to move,' he said, and leaning forwards he kissed her lips. Maria sighed softly through her nose, and parted her lips to let him run his tongue against hers. Caught up in the moment and in the pain-fighting pleasure, she was disappointed when Loveday cleared her throat and De Noir pulled reluctantly away.

'Rest,' De Noir said, brushing calloused fingers over her chin.

* * *

Downstairs, Loveday sat on the windowledge with a cup of tea.

'I want her back at Moonacre,' Benjamin said. He sat on the nearby step in a borrowed shirt.

'Hold your peace boy,' De Noir growled. 'Or I'll finish what you started.'

'You can't keep her here-' Benjamin said.

'Get him out of here,' De Noir turned to his daughter, his eyes flashing in a way that made even Loveday wary. 'Get him out.'

Loveday pulled Benjamin away.

'She's not yet yours, De Noir!' Benjamin's voice rose as two servants took hold of him, and removed him from the room.

Outside, Benjamin reeled away alone, his hair in his hands. De Noir stood for a moment, then he turned and disappeared into the castle. Loveday put her hands on Benjamin's shoulders.

'I know you feel guilty,' she said. 'Benjamin, she'll forgive you this.'

'It was all my fault,' he said softly. Loveday nodded to herself.

'Yes, it was. But it can be fixed. Benjamin,' she turned him round and took his face in her hands. 'She loves him. And much as it surprises me...Father seems to love her too. I know it's an unlikely match and I know you don't think too highly of Father at times. But he's a good man. A gentleman. He used to carry my Mother over the mud pockets, for heaven's sake. His enemies fear him, sometimes his own family fears him, but he loves and guards what's his. Benjamin, I can't think of a safer place for Maria.'

'But she's so young-' Benjamin sighed. Loveday nodded.

'Yes, she is. Young and foolish, like we were when we met,' Loveday smiled. 'I was barely sixteen myself. You were twenty. What idiots we were.'

'This is different. He's old enough to be her Grandfather.'

'And that matters?' Loveday persisted.

'He could die of age long before their children are grown,' Benjamin said. 'Leaving her alone.'

Loveday sighed.

'That's the price they'll have to pay. Benjamin, you can't force her affections onto another man because you don't like her choice.'

'I can try.'

'And she will hate you for it. And knowing Maria, she will run back to my Father anyway. She's a free spirit,' Loveday put her hand over Benjamin's heart. 'Like you. Like me.'

* * *

De Noir put his weight on the mattress softly. Maria didn't stir from her sleep. Carefully, he laid down, turned very slowly onto his side and watched Maria sleep. He was still there, now asleep himself when Maria's eyelids flickered open.

He woke suddenly, aware of movement, to see Maria touching the bandages around her middle. The sheets pulled back, he could see her lovely, curvy form beneath. She looked up when she sensed him watching her. He smiled peacefully.

'William,' she said softly, her eyes full of love. She tried to move closer, but hissed in pain when the stitches pulled.

'Don't,' De Noir said quietly, shifting closer himself. Maria breathed out slowly when he moved up close, his body against hers, and put an arm over her chest. His fingers stroked her neck. She could smell his skin.

'Is Uncle okay?' she asked.

'If by okay you mean, out of his mind with guilt then he is fine. He wants to take you to Moonacre.'

'Now?' Maria's eyes filled with panic. She stared into his face. 'No, I don't want to go-'

'Calm down, my sweet one,' De Noir said gently. 'I've told him, quite rightly, that you're too weak to move.'

Maria just nodded, raising a hand slowly to touch his beard.

'What about after?' she said softly. 'What if he tries to take me then-'

'Let him try,' De Noir said darkly. 'For now, concentrate on rest.'

Much later, when Maria had snuck in another good four or five hours, Uncle Benjamin came in to see her. His face pale, his eyes rather wide, she knew instantly that he was feeling terrible for what he'd done. It should be me crying, she thought dimly, as she stroked his thick, brown hair. I'm the one who actually got hurt.

'It's alright, Uncle,' she said, and meant it. Benjamin was quiet for long minutes.

'Uncle?' she said softly. 'I know...I know you don't like William,' she glanced at his face to see if she was going to incite anger, but there was only love to be seen. 'I know you think he's mistreated me somehow. And i've figured out that he's much older than me, that there are certain...problems we might face. I still love him.'

'Oh Maria,' Benjamin sighed.

'Please? Don't take me away from him, I couldn't stand it, I-'

'Maria,' he said quietly, taking her hand. 'I've tried to be a Father for you. Perhaps that was wrong of me. Believe me, I only sought to fill the hole I saw in you, out of love. I would be remiss as a Father – or an Uncle, if I didn't warn you of the dangers I can see. But if you do feel this way, if you truly love Coeur De Noir, then I will try to understand. I will try to endure, and to see the best in him, for your sake.'

'I do, Uncle. I do love him,' Maria nodded. Benjamin sighed.

* * *

Maria bent low, her hand on her side, where the ghost of the shot still lurked, causing intermittent pain. A blue periwinkle smiled in her hand. She touched its soft petals gently, then slid it into one of the button holes in her gown.

Full dresses were impossible after the wound. She was forced to stick to plain dresses, with no corsets or reinforcements. Coeur De Noir had provided, and provided grandly, in every conceivable colour and style of velvet and silk. Maria had become used to them, and no longer missed the fluffy, overdone gowns of her younger years.

This one, altered by her maid Betty was a midnight blue, low-cut and quite revealing. It was drawn in for her waist, and fitted her like a glove. She had the feeling Benjamin did not approve of the neckline, but she wasn't changing it, because every time she crossed paths with Coeur De Noir, a furnace of lust would light behind his eyes.

The gardens stretched out before her, cool and damp with the approach of winter. She strolled amongst the potted plants. Uncle and Loveday had insisted on staying at castle De Noir, 'to protect her honour' as her Uncle put it. A concept which seemed to deeply amuse La Coeur, who would smirk whenever he heard it.

Maria twirled on the late afternoon lawn, tilting her head back to watch the azure blue sky wheel by. The last few weeks had been the happiest of her life. After breakfast with her family and her love, she'd retire to work on her book, then in the afternoon they amused themselves with games. The tension between De Noir and Benjamin, though still strong, did seem to be waning just a little. Maria was grateful for it.

On the days when De Noir was present and not engaged in some business, he would whisk her off by carriage or on his horse to spent quiet time alone. Evenings were usually public, with Benjamin and Loveday present, but lately Maria and William had shared a few private meals.

Sitting alone in his private study, Maria listened with a smile to whatever he told her. His voice was always a pleasure to hear, no matter what the story.

Maria sat on a stone bench, leaned back with a smile. The clouds were high today and quite fast. She tracked them as they moved, and sighed a contented sigh. She was so relaxed that she didn't hear footsteps behind her. Somebody covered her eyes with their hands and she yelped. Then her nose picked up the scent of skin and leather and she smiled.

'Angel?' she asked softly.

'My lady,' said De Noir. Without taking his hands off her eyes he leaned down and kissed her lips.

Maria slid her fingers into his sleeves and kissed him back, until the position became too uncomfortable and they parted. De Noir came around the bench to sit slowly, his green eyes full of desire and heat. Maria moved close to him and put her head on his shoulder. His pulse thumped close to her nose.

'I missed you last night,' she said. De Noir smiled.

'I you,' he purred. 'Damned barbarians are nothing but trouble.'

'I'm glad you're back,' Maria said, as William touched her face, then leaned in to kiss her lips softly. Maria felt the heat grow between her thighs as their tongues danced together. His hand on her waist, pulling her close, just inches off her bottom. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

'The nights alone are a trial,' Maria breathed against his lips, her hands in his thick, black hair.

'Aren't they just,' De Noir's grip intensified on her hip as he kissed a trail down her neck, and bit the skin gently. Maria moaned. 'I dream of you, my sweet. All soft and pale in the moonlight, passionate and willing,' he pulled her in with a groan. 'Underneath me.'

'I want to feel you,' Maria breathed, as De Noirs hand ghosted up her belly, toward her velvet covered breast. He brushed the side of it, making her gasp. 'On top of me. Inside me. It drives me mad. God-' she tilted her head back as he licked the sensitive spot under her ear.

His fingers were gentle, slightly rough on her neck as he put his lips to ear.

'Will you marry me, Maria?' he asked softly.

'Yes!' she breathed, without hesitation. De Noir's smile was devastating, his eyes glittered with unshed tears of happiness as he pulled her in to embrace her. Maria slid her hands up his back, a grin on her face she was sure she would never be able to wipe off. She'd be walking down the aisle wearing this ridiculous smile, she thought. And the thought only made her smile all the more.

* * *

next chapter : Epilogue


	6. Epilogue rated M

**This is chapter is rated Mature/18/NC-17. Read at your own risk!**

* * *

Epilogue

Her wedding dress rustled as she sat on the edge of the bed. Nor far behind, De Noir shut the door with his heel. His lips pulled up into a smile that was close to evil. Maria felt her own grin build. Seeing Benjamin and William shaking hands, albeit under duress had given her some hope for the future. She had a feeling it would be a while before all ills were forgotten, though.

'You,' De Noir said, crossing the room to pluck her up. He ran his fingers up the lacy sleeves of the dress. 'Look like an angel. This gown has been teasing me all day.'

'You like it?' Maria asked playfully.

'Like it?' De Noir growled, pulling her body flush against his. 'It sets a _fire_ in my loins.'

Maria stroked his neck as he kissed her deeply. She touched the spot under his shirt where throat met collarbones and he sighed softly.

'And now you're all mine,' he purred.

'Thank God,' she sighed.

'My blushing bride,' he grinned, desire lighting up hot and intense behind his azure green eyes.

'Promise?' Maria smirked.

'Oh,' De Noir slid fingers into her hair. 'I do. I do.'

The kiss was slow and thorough. Maria sighed through her nose, pressing her body to his while their mouths and tongues danced together. De Noir stroked fingertips over her bare neck and shoulders, tickled them down her front, never quite touching her breasts.

'Oh yesss-' Maria breathed.

'I can hardly believe my luck,' De Noir smiled against her throat.

'I can hardly believe your luck either,' Maria grinned.

'You cheeky minx,' De Noir growled, as he pushed his hand between her legs and cupped her sex. Maria arched, wrapping her arms around De Noir's neck. He backed her up towards the bed. She went, her dress rustling softly, until the frame met her knees and she sat. Maria scooted up the bed, hoping he would follow.

De Noir leaned down, transferring his weight into his arms, and crawled up the bed to where she lay. He slid his arm under her back and placed his body carefully on top of hers. He kissed her mouth slowly, his fingers brushing her neck and shoulder. He lay down on his side, pulling her close. Maria's breathing quickened, her heart thumping with need.

The were no barriers now, no need to hold back. It was both arousing and frightening. De Noir's hands were gentle, his kisses passionate as he pulled her gently onto her side, and set about the laces of her dress. He kissed her neck and shoulder as they were exposed. Her spine, her back, as he rolled her and began to pull the dress off slowly.

Maria gasped as he drew it down, the air this high up in the castle was cold. He pulled it down her legs and tossed it away, revealing her in nought but her briefs and shift. He licked her waist, stroked the length of her legs. Pushingf her shift up an inch or two, he teased the bullet scar with his tongue. She arched, his mouth so warm, so deliciously skilled.

'Are you blushing, my love?' she could hear his smile. Maria gasped as he bit her skin gently. De Noir slid his hands up her flat stomach.

'Hugely,' she breathed, burying her face in the bed when he raised his head to look. De Noir slithered up her body, drew her face into his hands and pulled her out. Maria felt the blush intensify as he looked first at her body, then her face – then kissed her deeply. While their lips were joined, he brushed fingertips over her thighs. It made her wriggle, only intensifying the heat and growing need between her legs.

'My little bride,' he breathed, less flirt now and more desire. Maria bit her lip, sat up a little and reached for his collar. Slowly, she set about the buttons with hands just a little unsteady. De Noir sighed a soft breath into her neck when she slid her hands under his shirt to touch his bare chest.

Maria worked his jacket off, then the shirt underneath. He pulled away from her long enough to shrug them off. Maria's eyes were wide, her cheeks flushed as she looked at his naked chest.

'Your turn,' he smiled, working her shift up. Maria let him draw it off. It joined the pile on the floor.

De Noir wasted no time, dipping his head to lick her breasts, then suckle on her shell-coloured nipples. She felt him groan, and put her hands in his long, thick hair as pleasure shot through her. De Noir caressed her skin, sending shivers through her. She copied him, running her hands over his smooth back, the light dusting of dark hair on his chest.

Over his belly, down to his hips – where she blushed hugely, but didn't take her hands away.

'Would you like to see?' he purred into her ear. Maria just nodded, her mouth dry as he reached down to flick open his fly, and pulled away long enough to remove his britches and socks.

Maria gasped softly. His smile was calm, reassuring. His eyes blazed with lust that almost – almost – frightened her. And at the same time, left her helpless and desperately in need of release. She didn't move as he slid back onto the bed, his erection visible, intimidating against his stomach – and crawled towards her.

Maria's heart pounded as he lowered his weight again, their bare skin meeting. De Noir cupped her face and kissed her softly. He touched her, caressed her, used his lips and tongue and fingertips. The flat palms of his hands, the planes of his body. Like a cat he moved against her, inciting gasps here, moans there, until the heat between her legs grew to fever pitch and she found herself gripping him and pushing her hips against his.

'Please-' she breathed, taking his mouth feverishly.

He seemed to understand because he pulled away, and with his big, calloused hands grasped her briefs. He pulled them down her legs, leaving her naked before his eyes. Maria blushed hard as he ran his hands down her thighs. She parted them automatically. His gaze on her face, she felt exposed, embarrassed by her nakedness.

De Noir slid his fingertips close to that sensitive, private juncture, then drew away, teasing her terribly. Again and again he did this, until Maria was writhing, her legs open like some wanton creature – then and only then did he touch her. Maria almost screamed, her whole body tensing as he began to softly rub a little spot she'd had no clue was even there. The pleasure with incredible. She arched her back, little noises escaping her throat.

De Noir's eyes burned with lust.

'William-' Maria whimpered, not sure if what she was feeling was normal. What we he doing to her? She looked down. His fingers were glistening wet where he touched her, his cock looked huge and thick. He was stroking himself slowly while he worked, then before she could protest, he dropped, and buried his face between her thighs.

Maria let loose a little cry as he began to lick and suck gently, holding her bottom in both hands. Maria squirmed, her whole body buzzing. Then suddenly, the most intense pleasure overtook her, an explosion behind her eyes. She cried out, gripping the sheets as her whole body spasmed.

William rested his head on her thighs, his breath hot on her private place. His hands rubbed her hips and waist slowly. After a few minutes, he pulled himself up her body to kiss her lips. She tasted herself in his mouth. The kiss was slow, delicious, entirely relaxed. Maria wrapped her arms around his neck.

'That was so wonderful,' she breathed in his ear, sucking on the lobe as he had done to her. He groaned delightfully.

'Good,' he smiled, reaching down to draw her legs up. Maria must have looked nervous as he pressed his cock to her entrance, spreading her ample wetness all around.

'Don't be afraid, my lovely,' he kissed her throat. 'It will only hurt for a moment.'

With that, he kissed her lips softly and eased inside. Maria bit her lip, uncomfortable, then cried out as something tore inside. De Noir soothed her face, kissed her cheeks.

'Gods-' his voice was tight. Maria squirmed, her inner muscles protesting and the remnants of her climax intensifying the sensation. She threw her head back as he kissed her throat. She gave a little whimper the first time he drew all the way out and pushed back in.

'You feel tight as a vice,' he breathed in her ear, and nibbled her neck. Maria could feel the stretch down below that up until now had bordered actual pain. Then De Noir began to thrust gently, and the discomfort melted gradually into pleasure. Deep inside, her body ached gently. She knew she'd be sore, but as she watched her lover bite his lip, his eyes burning with need – she realised she didn't care. The view was too good.

She reached down, taking his buttocks in her hands and urging him on, listening to his moans, his laboured breathing. His hands grew tight on her shoulders, his face full of concentration. Maria kissed his throat, enjoying the little growl she got. She touched his sides, his chest. Ran her hands through his thick, black hair.

The longer he thrust, the harder he seemed to work to maintain his gentle pace. Maria's body protested at the deep movements, but she smiled when he bared his teeth in her shoulder.

'Go on. I can take it,' she breathed, wondering if this would incite him. It did. He deepened his movements, causing her stomach to ache. Moments later he came with a shudder and a groan, filling her with heat. He stayed there, his arms shaking with the effort of holding his weight and kissed her softly – then drew out to lie beside her.

He put a hand on her belly.

'Are you alright?' he asked softly against her ear, when she turned to wrap her arms around his neck. She nodded.

'Wonderful,' she breathed, as she lay her head down on his bicep. For a long time they were quiet, then Maria squirmed nearer, cuddling against her Angel's chest. Her put a hand in her hair, soothing her scalp as she closed her eyes – and dozed into sleep, finally content.


End file.
